A HUMAN IN A NON HUMAN WORLD
I am going to deeply miss my friend Steve Deeds who passed away last Monday. I’ve known him for probably 15 years. He was not a typical coin dealer. Actually I never knew him to be a coin dealer per se (he ran Bowers+Superior Auctions years ago).
Coin dealers can be a nasty bunch, but Mr. Deeds was different. He was a human. Had a huge heart. While always working or engaging himself in some business deal, he always stopped to offer someone advice, help, or real honest friendship. I know many years ago when I was struggling, he came to help me. Not only did he help me, but at the time he was one of the few people I knew who believed in me and inspired me to continue on.
My biggest regret was when I had a chance to buy Superior when it was for sale many years ago from A Mark and I didn’t pull the trigger. I would have enjoyed working with Deeds. He knew how badly I wanted to be in the auction biz and told me I’d make it one day. At least he saw I started on my journey.
Grandpa I’ll miss your quick wit and smile. At least the last 15 years were filled with tremendous joy for the time you got to spend on this earth with the true love of you life, your son Nicholis. May you rest in peace until the bourse floor (or auction house) in heaven opens for biz!
Laura Sperber
About Steve ( From the Morgan Gold Website Bio)
During a career that has spanned five decades, Steve Deeds has risen to become one of the most well-known and highly respected experts in the United States coin market of the 21st century. He began his career as a professional numismatist in 1963 when, as a high school student, he managed a local coin shop in his home town of Inglewood, California. Steve developed such an interest in the coin market that, while still in his teens, he decided to open his own business to sell coins to the collecting public.
In 1972 Steve moved to New York City and opened a coin dealership on the corner of 57th Street and 6th Avenue. At the height of the boom that followed upon the heels of the government’s lifting the ban on private ownership of gold, his coin sales surpassed the $100 million mark in a single calendar year, 1973, (in 2010 this would be $508 million adjusted for inflation). Returning to California by the mid-1970s, Steve partnered with two other professional numismatists in the acquisition and sale of what was, at that time, the largest rare coin transaction in history: the LaVere Redfield Hoard containing more than half a million uncirculated Morgan and Peace Silver Dollars.
Following his success with the Redfield Hoard, Steve became one of the pioneers in the recovery of United States gold coins that the federal government had sent to Europe to help fund the Allied effort during both world wars. He continues to be actively involved in the recovery of U.S. gold coins and has made this aspect of the market one of the cornerstones of Morgan Gold.
From 1983 to 1995, Steve built another successful coin business, buying and selling some of the rarest United States coins on the market. Shortly thereafter, he expanded his talents as a professional numismatist by moving into the rare coin auction business. He managed much of the operation at Superior Galleries of Beverly Hills for six years and spent the next seven years as president of Bowers and Merena Auctions, where he continues to serve today as a consultant.
Steve founded Morgan Gold to build upon his experience in the recovery and sale of classic United States gold coinage. His success as a coin professional is due in no small part to his willingness to devote the necessary time and resources to cultivate trusting relationships with other rare coin dealers as well as with the collecting and investing public.
Steve enjoys one of the strongest reputations for honesty, integrity and fair dealing in the rare coin industry. Other dealers and professionals view Steve as a “go-to person” who is always willing to support their success with everything from supplying them with fresh coins for inventory to lending his expertise and using his contacts to help them broker transactions.
Steve is held in equally high esteem by those who have worked with him in the past as well as his peers at Morgan Gold. He continues to foster and maintain give-and-take relationships with his co-workers as expressed through his conviction that, “people work with me, they never work for me.” Steve’s keen understanding of all aspects of the rare coin market, his position of leadership within that market and his commitment to integrity and honest dealing mark him as one of the preeminent experts on rare coins and gold bullion of the early 21st century.
